1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to disposable collar guards which can protect a wearer from staining or irritating substances or other fluids and particles.
2. Description of Related Art
Hair care professionals and beauticians use different means for protecting clothing of their clients during various procedures such as hair coloring, wash, haircuts and makeup applications. Frequently, various kinds of protective capes or even towels are used to prevent staining or irritating substances or other fluids and particles from contacting with clients' clothing. Still, despite preventive measures, collars of the clothing become stained and therefore, the clothing gets ruined. Thus, even though bulky capes provide the overall coverage, they fail to protect the collars. An example of a protective cape is a cape described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,094,744 to Dibenedetto et al. This patent describes a protective covering in a shape of a cape, wherein a triangular portion of the covering is tucked in between the neck of a person and his collar with the remaining portion extending out to cover the shoulders and back of a person.
Several patents describe replaceable collar protectors that are intended for permanent wear. These protectors mimic the shape of the collar and conceal the outer ends of the collar. U.S. Pat. No. 2,637,034 to Smith describes a collar protector which is made to tightly fit a collar by slipping it on an envelope. U.S. Pat. No. 3,860,967 to Tedesco describes a collar protector having the collar's ends tucked in pockets for receiving the ends to conceal and protect the collar. See also U.S. Pat. No. 4,953,232 to Gaines et al.
Other patents describe collar protectors, which engage only the inside part of the collar and are aimed to protect the inside part of the collar from contacting with the neck of a wearer of the garment. U.S. Pat. No. 4,008,494 to Hicks describes a strip of a flexible fabric to be removably secured to the neck band of a garment. See also U.S. Pat. No. 4,653,119 to Kaiser, U.S. Pat. No. 5,940,882 to Auguste, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,711,030 to Anderson et al.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,651,347 to Brown describes a protective shield for a collar of an outer garment to protect the collar from being stained by hair gel or oil. The protective shield covers only an upper side of the collar and includes (1) an outer layer made of real or simulated leather having a smooth, non-adsorbent surface from which the hair gel or oil can be wiped off and (2) an inner layer, which is made of cloth and is connected to the outer layer and has means for attaching the protective shield to the collar. This protective shield is not intended to protect areas other than the collar.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,980,927 to Wawiluk et al. describes a disposable adherent collar in a shape of an isosceles triangle, wherein the top portion of the triangle contains an adhesive band for securing the disposable adherent collar to the top part of a collar on a shirt of a wearer. There are a number of problems with this disposable adherent collar, such that it depends on the adhesive for retention on the collar, and its shape does not provide any additional means for being retained on the collar. Further, when placed around the collar of the wearer, the triangular shape of the disposable adherent collar would form a bulge, which could be a source of discomfort and thereby limits its applications for other purposes. As such, the disposable adherent collar is not suitable for protecting the front of the wearer's clothing for application of potentially staining substances such as, for example, make-up materials. Finally, manufacturing of the disposable adherent collar includes additional steps for applying the adhesive.
None of the above described protective coverings provide a disposable covering for protection of clothing during hair care or make up applications which is easy and effective to use, economic to make, and is versatile for variety of applications. Therefore, despite above described efforts, there is a need for a disposable bi-functional collar guard, which would have the above qualities.
All references cited herein are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.